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| Photo from TechRadar |
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5, announced just last week, is the latest sign that the South Korean manufacturer is phasing out its plastic-clad phones in exchange for ones with metal and glass builds.
Its premium design is its biggest perk if you're upgrading from the Note 4 or a previous Note phone, and want something that looks and feels as good as the Galaxy S6 in a bigger size. With a 5.7-inch quad HD display, better specs and the return of the S-Pen, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has everything you want, except a microSD card slot and replaceable battery. That's a deal breaker for many long-time (and vocal) Note users I've already heard from, but others will see the value in upgrading to the more stylish and powerful phablet later this month.
Launch
So when does it actually launch? That all depends on where you live, sadly. Its official release date is August 21 in the US, this Friday, and it's not coming to the UK. Not this year, at least.
Price
You'll pay top dollar for the Galaxy Note 5, as Samsung phablet regulars have come to expect. AT&T is charging $250 for the 32GB version if you buy the phone with a two-year agreement, and $349.99 for 64GB on the same terms.
That's $50 less expensive than the Note 4 launch price, but it ends up being $740 for 32GB and $840 for 64GB off-contract. Somebody REALLY wants you to make a commitment, and their name is AT&T. Put a ringtone on it.
Don't expect the same for the UK, where it would likely cost the usual £600, or Australia (AU$940). Samsung doesn't currently have a UK release date for the Galaxy Note 5, instead touting that the Samsung Galaxy Edge 6+ as coming to Europe "soon."
Design
The Note 5 design is made of an iPhone 6 Plus challenging metal frame with a glass back, and it stands in stark contrast to the plastic-painted frames of yesteryear that simply looked metal.
At 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, its dimensions slightly more compact than last year's, and it weights a few grams less than the Galaxy Note 4, 171g vs 176g.
That said, it's still hefty compared to the Galaxy S6, but at least the camera doesn't protrude as on Samsung's smaller flagship phone.
Just don't expect Samsung to have added in the sorely missing microSD card slot or removable battery. Like the on S6, it's missing in the new phablet, too.
Display
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 keeps the same 5.7-inch display size and Super AMOLED technology back it for good reason: it's among the best looking screens out there. With a quad HD 2560 x 1440 resolution and pixel-packed 518 pixels per inch, it's hard not to like what's behind this Gorilla Glass 4 display.
On paper, it's not quite as pixel-dense as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which tout a 577ppi. But that's just because that same resolution is stretched out overtop of larger screen. It hardly makes a difference.
Specs
Samsung ditched Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor with the Galaxy S6, and it hasn't looked back, employing the same Exynos 7420 Octa-core as its smaller flagship phone. It combines the power of a 2.1 GHz quad-core (Cortex-A57) + 1.5 GHz quad-core (Cortex-A53) chip, and in previous S6 tests has topped our benchmarks among all reviewed phones.
What's amazing is that the S6 has 3GB of RAM. The Note 5 ups the amount of memory to 4GB. The ceiling is even higher for running multiple tasks at once on this performance-driven phone.
Do you think that the Note 5 will do well in sales? I think that this phone has been hyped up enough to were it's gained enough interest from people therefore they will be more likely to consider it when their contract is up.
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